Bleeding Nymph
by EverlastingOblivion
Summary: Larxene's finally getting use to life in the castle: Eat, sleep, and work. Axel and Marluxia, while never friends, are growing to despise each other more every day. Xigbar and Zexion know the Organization's secret, and are plotting to let it out...
1. Introduction

Bleeding Nymph

Larxene watched as droplets off water slid down her body. Her body…she wasn't very kind to it, and it was all she had left. In fact that's all she was, a body animated by a soul, with out a heart. She glanced at her arm, feeling the slight sting of the heated shower water pouring over the fresh gashes in her arm. She glared at the drops of blood that mingled with the water, running off her arm and down the shower drain. She had to wonder where it all drained out.

Slowly she stepped from the shower, drying and sliding back into her clothes. She threw the regulation Organization XIII coat on and walked out of her bathroom. She was very lucky she had a bathroom all to herself, just because she was a girl. She also had a room all to herself, which was heavenly. It was all just because she was female but she didn't mind it when sexism fell in her favor. She knew some of the boys had to share rooms and the only other ones that had private bathrooms were numbers One, Two, and Nine. One and Two because they were the two highest in command and number nine because he was the hydro that provided water for the castle

She pulled the sleeve down over her arm carefully to conceal it. She had been so irritated with herself she had done it purely out of blind rage. She intended not to make a habit of it, but she still didn't want anyone to see the cuts. They might think she was nuts and kick her out of the organization, and she had only been here a few days. In fact she still hadn't met everyone. She had met the superior, number one, and numbers 2 and 8, who had introduced themselves as Xigbar and Axel. She took an immediate dislike of the spiky red haired man. He'd been so cocky and conceited she could barely stand the sight of him…

…speak of the devil. She had walked out of the bathroom and into her room, completely unaware that he had been watching her as she made her way over to her bed and sat down mumbling to herself. She hadn't noticed him until he walked up to her in fact, because she was so spaced out. She glared up at him savagely; after all wasn't that what the superior had named her? The Savage Nymph, it had a nice ring to it.

"What are you doing in here? This is my room number eight" she snapped. She didn't bother to call him by name even though she knew it. She wanted him to know she disliked him.

"Nothing, I just wanted to drop in and see how are newest member was getting along. You've spent all your time in your room, no ones gotten a chance to meet you Larxene" he said, using her name in direct contrast to her comments. Everything he did he did to annoy her, she was beginning to realize this.

((Authors note: I know it's a short beginning but keep in mind that's all it is, a beginning. I'll make it up by writing a MUCH longer second chapter to this one. The thought of doing a Larxene fic has been long in my mind. I hope it turned out better than I think it did.))


	2. The Organizers

Chapter 2: The Organizers

"Leave me alone Axel" Larxene snapped and looked away from him.

"So you're actually using my name now? I'm so flattered. I just thought I'd let you know that the superior called a meeting. Its in an hour down at the meeting hall. Do you know where that is?" Axel smirked venomously. He knew he was going to enjoy her being here. She was easily annoyed by his antics, and it made him laugh

"yes" she lied. "now if you'll excuse me this MY room. Get lost" she said and smiled tightly. She wanted him to go FAR away as in **very** far. Axel merely smirked and muttered something under his breath as he opened the door and trotted outside.

He had left her door hanging open and she sighed irritated at him. As she began to close the door she saw figure dart down the hall screaming, "KEEP HIM AWAY!" He seemed to be screaming at the top of his lungs. Larxene looked at the direction he'd been running from and saw another figure running after him. "Awwww but Zexion, come back here. Please?" Larxene examined the figure that was running after the first. As if the person felt her staring they jerked to a halt before her and looked at her. The figure had long, pinkish colored hair and a very womanly figure. After hearing them screaming at the first figure Larxene had almost thought it was a girl.

"Hello love" he said cheerfully, smiling broadly at Larxene. "You must be the new girl. Wow this is just swell, I'm telling you this place could really use a woman's touch. No matter how nice I try to make the place it always seems so…drab. My name is Marluxia, what's yours love?"

"Larxene…" she said nervously. She stared at Marluxia's outstretched hand and shook it gently. Something about him **really** creped her out. Besides the fact for the first five minutes she'd known him she thought he was a girl. She wondered if there were any other females in the Organization.

"Larxene, beautiful name" he purred, flashing her a flirtatious grin. "Sorry to rush off love but you see I must catch my dear room mate Zexion. I just got here myself not so long ago so I'm sure I can help you later. Zexion and I however were supposed to clean our room and superior will be very cross if he finds we didn't." He giggled in a way that sent chills down Larxene's spine. "Ta ta love" he said and ran after the man apparently name was Zexion, waving back at Larxene. She sighed and shook her head. She closed the door and retreated into her room before anyone else would show up. She'd have to meet them all later but for now she wanted to be left alone to think. The Marluxia fellow had seemed nice, maybe she wouldn't mind him so much. Not like the arrogant bastard Axel. She sighed and looked out the window in her room over their world, the World that Never Was.

Larxene looked out of her room about an hour or so later. Now where was that damn meeting hall? She wondered out, wondering where that pink haired man, Marluxia, had gone. He would be able to help her; she'd rather him than that low life Axel. She wandered down the hall and down the stairs certain that was the right direction. As she was descending them another figure was coming up them. He was young, a lot younger looking than anyone else she had met. He had long purple hair cut in a sort of emo-kid style. He looked at Larxene wide eyes then sighed with relief " I that you were my roommate. You're the new girl right? I remember that smell, a lot better than Mar's. That damn rose scent is about to make my nose fall off" he muttered.

Larxene looked at him "yeah, Larxene" she said and shook his hand. " I was just heading to the meeting hall. Ummm which way is it, I don't know my way around yet."

He glanced at her anxiously and looked behind him, probably making sure Marluxia wasn't behind him. He didn't seem to be fond of his roommate. Then said, "Zexion, just keep going the way you were, down the stairs five floors down the hall second door on the left, now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to my room and enjoy the hour that the meeting is going to give me to avoid Marluxia. Maybe wash that damned rose smell out of my sheets." With that he moved around her and disappeared up the stairs. She shrugged and follower the directions he gave her down to the meeting hall.

She walked in, seeing eight people sitting at along table. Larxene was unsure of where to go when she herd " Larxene, how've you been love, come sit here." Marluxia was waving wildly at her, beaming. She tried to slink over stealthily but all Marluxia's shouting had caused all eyes to fall on her. She sat down next to Marluxia and gave him a tight, well practiced smile. Rarely did she smile because she felt good. It was just a reflex, something she did when she figured it was expected of her. She glanced around, looking at the different members.

Jeeze, what a motley crew of misfits. She saw the Superior sitting at the head of the table, looking important. Xemnas, that was his name. Everyone called him the Superior though.

Next to him was the man who had introduced himself as Xigbar. He had long black hair, slicked and pulled back, dark gray streaks running through it. He seemed a bit spacey as he stared off into nothing in particularly. Maybe he was thinking intently on the Organization's next move. The look on his face however suggested something else, probably along the lines of perverted daydreams.

Number three sighed and shook his head, shooting Xigbar a nasty glare. Long black dreadlocks spilled down his back, accompanied by black sideburns. He wasn't very pleasant to look at, nor did he appear to have a very pleasant personality. He looked up at her as if he had suddenly felt her gaze and glared down the table at her. The intensity made he wince a bit. Marluxia chuckled and whispered " its okay, that's just Xaldin. He's a complete creep sometimes, ignore him."

Number four seemed to be focused intently on something, a book, glaring at the pages so fiercely it seemed like he should be burning a hole in it. Marluxia, always looking to be helpful said " And that's Vexen. He's pretty…detached. What's that fancy word my oh so adorable roommate used? stoic? Something along those lines. Zexion uses big word I don't understand so much I only get about half a conversation with him, but anyway. Vexen's a very mellow guy; I like that about him though. He's not a raging ball of craziness like all these other guys. I don't know too much about him though." Marluxia shrugged and Larxene watched him stare intently at his book until Marluxia pointed at someone else.

Number seven, " that's Saïx. Even though he's number seven he's the superior's right hand man." He looked at the others for a moment then whispered in Larxene's ear " some say that Saïx and the superior are together. I think they make a nice couple myself. Saïx is always hanging around the superior's quarters. He practically lives there so Luxord, that guy over there with the beard, he basically has his own room. Pretty lucky for him huh?" Then he straightened up so as not to look suspicious and continued "he's not really the emotional type. He's very withdrawn into himself. Kinda sad. He's so cool and collected all the time. He never seems to have any fun." Marluxia frowned and then shrugged "he's just another one of those mysterious guys."

Then came number eight, Axel. Marluxia was whispering harshly " that's Axel, he is a pig headed bastard. He likes nothing more than having fun at other people's expenses. I'd like to take my scythe and…"

"You do know I'm just right here Mar, I can hear you. Got it memorized? And just so you know, I don't like you or your damn flowers much either." He smirked smugly, his eyes smiling at the look of panicked shock on Marluxia's face. "Larxene, just so you know Marluxia doesn't know a damn thing. Except maybe how to grow flowers." He snickered and leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table.

"You know him?" Marluxia asked, tossing Larxene a pathetic look.

She nodded and muttered, "We've met. Truth be told I don't like either.

Marluxia laughed. "Yeah, with good reason. He's a jackass." He spoke louder, knowing Axel could hear them.

A rather alert looking number nine looked over at Marluxia and Larxene. He smiled brightly and waved. " Hiya, you must be the new girl. I'm Demyx pleasure to meet you." He had a nice smile, or at least Larxene thought so. She smiled back at him, a little more relaxed than her usual smile. He seemed like a really nice guy. She noticed the lower ranking guys, like Demyx and Marluxia weren't as tightly wrapped up as the higher ups, aside from Xigbar, who seemed quite out of it.

"Larxene" she said.

"Larxene, pretty name. I like it" Demyx said, offering her another smile. He always seemed to be in a smiley mood.

"Yeah Larxene, this is Demyx, our resident idiot" he said with a grin.

Demyx frowned " hey, I'm not an idiot." He pouted, he looked kinda cute when he did too.

Marluxia laughed and said, "I know Demy. I'm just kidding with you. You know Larxene he's actually a great musician. He can play sitar like a god. And you MUST listen to him sing. He's like a cherub." Demyx blushed and muttered a bashful thanks.

Final Marluxia pointed at the man right next to him. " Larxene, meet the Gambler of Fate, Luxord. He's totally fun, and he's awesome at games. He always wins though, I think he cheats." Marluxia grinned and prodded Luxord with his elbow.

"Hey, I do not. I'm an honest player. Never cheated a game in my life" He gave them both a serious look, then grinned.

"Nice poker face Luxord, see you've been working on it." Marluxia laughed then turned back to Larxene. Larxene smiled, a real smile, one of those rare, once in a blue moon ones.

"Nice to meet you Luxord. And thank you Marluxia, I'll make sure to remember all of it. I noticed two empty chairs though. Who's missing?" She knew the man she'd met in the hall wasn't, the Zexion fellow but who else.

" Well there's my Zexion, but he never comes unless it's really important. He has a lot of work he has to do all the time. Then there's number five. That would be Lexaeus. I don't know where he is. I Don't know anything about him truth be told. I've only ever scene him a few times. He spends most of his time working out, so I guess that's where he is."

Larxene tried to commit all this knowledge to memory. Who know what will prove usefull when. While everyone seemed…normal, she still didn't feel completely secure. She was glad she had made a friend in Marluxia, who could supply her with information. Marluxia would be someone she could rely on. Not like the big, dumb, idiot Axel.

((Authors Note: I told you this one would be longer. I doubt the rest will be quite this long unless I really get on a role again like I did tonight. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter, I spent all night finishing it. Next chapter will have WAY more character intereation.))


	3. Lightning, Water, Fire

Chapter 3: Lightning, Water, and Fire

((From the author: I just wanna thank everyone for the reviews they've given me, it's making me crazy-giddy-happy, ask my friends, its driving them nuts.))

After the meeting, which had been a short briefing on that status of the Organization and to introduce Larxene to everyone else. She had whished the superior hadn't forced introduction on her, she did better with people when she did it herself.

Oh well, she probably wouldn't get along with most of them anyway. She waved bye to Marluxia in the hallway after the meeting and walked back up to her room. Marluxia had offered to show her a tour of the castle, but Larxene hadn't felt like it. It was always dark in this world so it was hard to tell when it was night or not. She wasn't really tired but she said she was going to bed.

She was walking up the stairs when that damned familiar voice caught up with her. " Hey, Larxene."

She wheeled around, a nasty glare on her face. " What do you want Axel? Why can't you just leave me alone?" She was sincerely getting tired of him butting in. In fact she didn't stick around to listen to what he wanted. Fuck him; she didn't care what he wanted.

She pounded up the stairs, glaring back angrily, expecting Axel to follow her. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going. She hadn't thought anyone else would be heading up the stairs until she crashed into Demyx. They both proceeded to stumble and fall down.

"ow watch where you're- oh Larxene sorry" he said and smiled. " Didn't mean to snap at you, just some of the guys make it a point to push me around, probably just cause I'm the youngest." He stood up and then helped her to her feet. She had thought the man she'd seen earlier, Zexion might be the youngest, but Demyx seemed fairly young too. She'd compare them some other time.

"No need to apologize, my fault" she said. She almost continued on to say that Axel was bugging her but she knew that would more than likely just cause problems. She glanced back down the stairs to see if Axel was coming up them but there was no indication he was.

Demyx saw her looking back nervously and he figured the others had been harassing her to. That was probably the reason she was in such a hurry to get back to her room like he was. He had to ask though, because it would be stupid to assume things and then be wrong. " Are the others harassing you already Larxene? They do that to everyone you know, some of them are real jerks, kinda like Axel."

"Someone say my name?" Larxene looked up to find Axel staring down at her from up the stairs. How though? He'd been behind he a few moments ago. He smirked; obviously pleased he'd managed to ruffle her feathers.

The hard glare Demyx gave Axel was masking how startled he was as well. "Leave us alone Axel," he said shakily. Demyx didn't seem the type to be standing up for himself, much less anyone else.

Larxene knew he wasn't here to pester Demyx though. She turned around and started down the stairs when she collided into Axel. How did he keep doing that? It was beginning to get on her nerves. She turned around to storm back up the stairs when he grabbed her arm. She let out a yelp, half startled, half pained. He just had to grab _that_ arm. The scabs of the self inflicted wound on her arm from earlier screamed at her as Axel's hand closed around them and he yanked her back.

"Where are you going Larxene? Not sleepy already are you. Come on the nights still young, in fact round here it always is, got it memorized? Why aren't you gonna hang around with us for a while?" She knew what he wanted, and it annoyed her, though she couldn't blame him. From what she could tell she was the only female in the organization, not to mention it had probably been a while since this creep had a girlfriend. He could brush up on his manners a bit.

"I'm going far away from you if you don't mind" she snarled. It wasn't exactly comfortable having him puling so tightly on her. Then she smirked, deciding to show him her handy little friend. She had stashed small kunai in the sleeve of her coat to use if she ever needed, now she believed counted as needed. She managed to slide one out of her sleeve and into her hand without him noticing. As he tried to pull her along she stabbed him on the arm.

He let out a pained scream, and Larxene didn't stick around to find out what he would do when he recovered from the shock. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could, running by Demyx who had continued up the stairs after the brief scare with Axel. " hey Lar- " he said but she was gone before he could say anything. He quickly found out why. Half a moment latter a **very** angry Axel dashed up the stairs after her. Demyx was kinda scared about what would happen if she got caught. He hoped she wouldn't, Axel might rip her apart. He looked at the ground and noticed a trail of blood. Who had left it? He was worried for her, prayed it wasn't her. She had just gotten here…

…

"LEAVE ME ALONE" She screamed and kicked him in the face. This was the third time he had caught her. He seemed to have forgotten how to do whatever it was that always seemed to put him a few steps ahead of her. He was in a blind furry, in savage pursuit of her. What a creep, he needed more attention…as in from a mental ward, not her. She managed to struggle away and took off running again, though she was beginning to fatigue. She had no idea where she was going, she just wanted to get away from him. He ran after her, this time tackling her into the wall, pinning her there.

"let GO" she screamed furiously. His hands clenched around her shoulders. He was hot, not as in attractive, but as in heat. His fury seemed to be heating up the very air around them. It was getting harder to breath in through the thick air.

"Your lucky I don't kill you for that" he meant stabbing him in the arm more than likely. If not it meant kicking him in the crotch after the second time he had caught up to her. At first his pursuit had been merely his inability to control his lust because she was the first girl he had seen in a long time. Now however he was pissed off because she had managed to stab him on the arm and kick him in a very sensitive area. She though for a second he might try to kill her from the look in his eyes.

Just then she herd " Dance water dance." Though she couldn't see the source she recognized Demyx's voice. Axel let go for a second and looked behind him just in time to have a blast of water soak him. Larxene then herd Demyx run away screaming. The thought to use her elemental powers hadn't occurred to her. While Axel stood, addled from the blast she placed her hands on his chest. She grinned at him then dug her nails in. She gave him a quick blast of electricity then sprinted away. After Demyx had drenched him the thunder shock had to be much more effective.

…

Larxene had run into the first room she had come too, which had thankfully been Demyx's. She was exhausted after all the evading Axel. Demyx had been a bit shocked at first but then welcomed her in and locked the door to keep Axel from showing back up.

"Thanks for your help back there, who knows what would've happened if I couldn't have escaped." She didn't want to think about it. She knew Axel's type, grew up around them. Guys that seemed nice, hell some of them really were, until you set them off. She called it P.B.R, point blank rage. She actually felt kinda sorry for him, she could relate. She had a tendency to snap sometimes too. Hell doesn't everyone?

"No problem. Axel can be a real jerk sometimes, but other times he can be really cool ya know? He's an awesome guy, he just is really hot headed, and if he doesn't get his way well…" he trailed off, knowing she knew what he meant. Demyx and Axel were actually okay friends, though Axel teased him a lot. "just don't let one little fit totally ruin your opinion of him. I know you've got a perfectly good reason-"

"Don't worry about it" she said. She knew what he meant. Larxene had spent a large portion of the time she was whole in the gutter, she knew a lot of men like Axel. She sighed, trying to forget some of the memories she was supposedly lucky to have. "I know what his problem is, his got all the fury pent up and he doesn't do anything about it. Am I right?" Demyx nodded.

" It's not exactly like he can go and get mental counseling" he said and gave a weak laugh. "The Nobody Memorial Hospital closed down doncha know." Larxene laughed a little bit then nodded. Maybe Axel wasn't such a bad guy. He probably just had some issues, what else was new? Maybe she could help him, then she wouldn't have to worry about him hunting her down and trying to kill her.

There was a soft rap on the door and Demyx walked cautiously over to it. He unlocked the door and opened it. Axel pushed in before he could shut it again. He turned to Larxene, his face set in a hard glare. His eyes though, being the windows to the soul as some say, looked almost sorry however. Demyx looked panicked, but then when Axel made no other movement towards either of them than staring at Larxene he relaxed.

"I'm…" Axel started then looked down at the floor and muttered softly "sorry." Larxene laughed and he looked up at her viciously " what's so funny?"

"Don't be sorry Axel. You can't help it that your stupid and don't know how to be anything else than a stupid angst and raged filled Nobody. If you want I can help you try to get over it though. It's symbiotic really, you learn how to take out your distress on something other than me and you don't try to hunt me down and kill me. Sound fair?" She crossed her arms and locked eyes with him giving him a neutral look. He looked at her for a long time before gritting his teeth and muttering some form of acknowledgement. She smiled and walked over to him. "Good boy, that's the first step to not being a psycho path." Larxene laughed again, she could already picture it in her head.

Larxene's Ten Step Program to Not Being Psycho, she'd sell millions.

((authors note: yay, nother chapter done. Sadly this will be the last for a few weeks, going on vacation. When I come back I'll write an extra long chapter for you though.))


	4. Fate and Faith, Roll the Dice

Chapter 4: Fate and Faith, Roll the Dice

((From the Author: I have returned, and here is the chapter I promised for ya))

"I'm telling you Lar, he cheats. I've stopped betting with him. Hell most of the others won't even play with him" Marluxia said, chewing on a handful of crackers. Larxene, with nothing to do, had gone to Marluxia's room to hang out and maybe get some information. She didn't mind Marluxia at all. In fact she kinda liked him. Marluxia had been filling her in on stuff she could do around the castle and brought up the activity of losing a game against Luxord. "He's fun to play against sure but he always wins, I'm telling ya I think he cheats" he had said. "Don't you think he cheats Demmy " Marluxia purred, glancing at the male leaning on the wall.

He had been following Larxene around a lot, probably thinking he could protect her, or at least that's what she figured. It had been a whole day without Axel trying to kill her, which was good. He was already improving.

"I suppose. Just cause he always wins though don't mean he cheats. I always lose to him but I'm no good at games like that" He said then shrugged. Marluxia snatched another handful of Cheese-It's from the box sitting between him and Larxene. Larxene had nearly died when she'd saw the box. Cheese-It's had always been her favorite food. Larxene glared at him then pulled the box closer to her. Marluxia looked a bit shocked and gladly relinquished the box. Larxene hugged the box against her chest and growled softly "…mine"

"fine its yours then love. I value my hands too much to try and take it from you" Marluxia muttered and rolled his eyes. "Hey Demmy-"

"Don't call me that" Demyx snapped and glared at Marluxia. Marluxia gave him a confused look and he sighed " its weird, okay? Would you want me calling you…. ummm… Mary?"

"Fine then, just don't call me Mary, I'll choke you if you do." He herd Marluxia next to him giggling. " And what do you find so funny?"

"Nothing, its just I can't imagine you choking anyone. Your so passive" Larxene said and shoved his shoulder gently.

Marluxia frowned. "What that supposed to mean? I can be aggressive if I want to. I just choose to be mellow that's all. I'd hate to end up being someone like Xaldin or Saïx."

Larxene laughed again and added " Or Axel." She seemed to be staring intently at the closet and then she began laughing again. Demyx and Marluxia both looked at her confused. "He's been hiding in the closet spying on us for about ten minutes. Come on out and join us Axel. Luxord ever beat you at cards?" She stared very triumphantly at the closet for a moment then herd some muttered curses and the door to the closet opened. Axel slunk out, a defeated expression on his face. He glared at her and she laughed.

Marluxia laughed too and said " Hey not bad Lar, you caught him peeping on us. How'd you know?"

Larxene smiled "My secret, trust me I'm sharper than I look. Now come on Axel, come sit with us. You know being around people if the first step to not trying to kill them." She was delighted from his angered yet accepting reaction he sat down next to her and sighed heavily. " Don't be so glum Axel, what are you, Anti-social?"

"YES" He snapped loudly at her, fed up already with her chattering. God he just wanted to knock her out. Women (and Marluxia) always talked too much in his opinion.

She gave him a shocked expression then confused " are you serious?"

"YES" he snapped again angrily. He'd been hiding in the closet spying to try and learn. He was really sincere about learning to be a better person, but it was hard with some of the habits he had ingrained in him. He didn't like to talk, or be around people. He had thought by watching Larxene he might learn but she was convinced he could only learn through example.

A few moments latter she smiled and looked at the three guys. " I gotta idea. You three meet me outside my room in ten minutes" she said and disappeared out the door.

….

The three boys showed up on time. Larxene breezed out of her room passed them, smiling. "Come on, follow me" she said and took off. They followed her up the stairs and down the hall.

"Where are we going Larxene" Demyx asked, jogging up beside her. Just walking she was faster than them; she was probably the fastest member in the Organization truthfully.

"Here" she said and knocked on the door.

"Come in" Luxord called. Larxene opened the door and directed the others in. She smiled pleasantly at Luxord and he smiled back. " What brings this motley crew up to niche then?"

"I thought we'd all play a game. Marluxia was just telling me how good you were. I figured a nice, **non-aggressive**," she turned to face Axel as she stressed this "game of dice. It would be fun just to see how good you are, and a good opportunity to get anti-social kid over here involved with everyone else." She poked Axel on the shoulder as she said the last part.

Luxord laughed and nodded " okay then, sounds exquisite to me. Alright, name your game Savage Nymph."

"Dice" she purred and strolled over to the table Luxord had set up with four chairs around it. He pulled up another one then sat down himself. Larxene and the other three sat around that table. Luxord snapped his fingers and a Gambler Nobody appeared, only instead of cards like a typical one, this one held five small dry-erase boards and a purple dry-erase marker. It scrawled all their names down and then drew a large 0 under each of the names.

"He'll be keeping score so we wont have to bother with it, now dose everyone know the regulations?" he asked then chuckled as Demyx and Marluxia shook their heads. Axel gave a meaningless grunt Luxord interpreted as a no. "I didn't figure so, do you Larxene?"

She laughed, " I basically invented the game. Its simple boys, you roll six dice. A 1 is worth 100 points. A 5 is worth 50 points, with me so far?" A few slightly confused nods. "Okay. Now you have to roll a 1 or a 5 to keep rolling. The goal is to get 10,000 points. If you roll 3 of a kind, that's how many hundred point is is. Like if you roll three 3's its 300 points, three 4's is 400, three 5's 500 points and so on. If you roll three 1's though that 1000 points. Or if you roll 1,2,3,4,5 or 2,3,4,5,6 that's also 1000 points. If you roll 1,2,3,4,5,6 that's 1,500 points. You have to roll 1000 points to start the game." She smiled then looked at Luxord " S'that all the rules?"

He grinned back and laughed " Yes, well spoken. Now all we have to decide is what to bet." This earned a groan from Marluxia and a stifled sigh from Demyx. Both had lost to him too many times to have any urge to bet against him.

"How bout we play strip dice?" Larxene proposed. This caused everyone, including Axel, to look over at her startled. " What? If you don't wanna bet Munny because you think you'll lose then bet your dignity. First one naked looses. How's that sound" she asked, raising an eyebrow, as if daring anyone to say anything else. She was rewarded with a few confused and startled nods. " Good, now lets star, Luxord you wanna go first?"

"Ummm… sure" He said. He snapped his fingers and six dice appeared.

Immediately Marluxia snatched them and inspected each of them. He didn't trust Luxord at all, especially with what was at stake. Luxord (as well as Axel and probably Demyx too) would love Larxene to lose this game and get the opportunity to see her naked. Marluxia didn't care so much though; truthfully he'd rather see Zexion naked. He could imagine his roommate loosing the game of dice, tossing his boxers off…

His fantasy was interrupted by Luxord snatching up the dice and rolling them. Six 6's, they couldn't believe it. " I must just be lucky" Luxord said and laughed. He picked up the dice and rolled again and rolled three 1's. "That's 2200 points for me, your roll Larxene."

…

They went through and played nearly five rounds before everyone got on the board.

"Now that were all on the board the shedding of clothing will commence. The one with the least points will be the one that has to strip" Luxord said.

They went around that table and all rolled the dice. Not surprisingly Larxene had the least points, only 1200. She giggled and unzipped her coat and slid it off. She noticed Axel's eyes glaze over a bit as she stripped it off and she giggled some more. Axel noticed she noticed and looked away, blushing.

"Your turn Axel" she said, handing him the dice.

"Thanks" he said and rolled three 3's and a 1. He knew he could quite possible get a lot more but he stayed at 400 and handed the dice to Demyx. Demyx rolled three 1's and a five. He decided to stay at 1050. Demyx then handed the dice to Marluxia. Marluxia tossed them and got 500. Luxord once again managed to get an 'amazing turn of luck' and he rolled a straight. The he rolled three more 1's after that.

"So that brings me up to 7250, Larxene has only 1200, Axel just a little higher than her with 1700. Demyx has 3250 and Marluxia is in second with 5650. Larxene if you don't roll higher than 1700-"

"I know Luxord just give me the die " she snapped. Lurk turned in her favor and she got three 6's. " And that's 1800, and I'll stay with that. That means Axel's in last" she said and looked at him expectantly. He looked uncomfortable and swallowed uneasily. He slid his coat off then threw it away on the ground. He had apparently hadn't planned on playing strip dice. The only thing he was wearing under his coat was his boxers. Larxene bust out laughing and he looked down, embarrassed. "Are those little hearts on your boxers" she managed to get out through gales of laughter.

"yes" he muttered under his breath, face bright red.

…

Half an hour came and went and no one had won yet. Larxene glanced at the scoreboards again. All of them only needed a few points left. Luckily Axel hadn't fallen in last place since all he was wearing were his boxers. Larxene had to strip three times, but she had been prepared. She had shed her shirt (still having a tank top on beneath it) and her shoes, insisting they were clothing. No one argued with her. Marluxia and Demyx had both lost their coats and Marluxia had to forfeit his t-shirt and Demyx a shoe (he fought for a long time, saying if Larxene could do it so could he). Luxord was still wearing all his clothes. Larxene rolled a single five and kept the 50 points. Now she only 200 points to win.

"And that puts me just beyond harm's range" she muttered, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Marluxia sighed frustrated, hating the fact he was barefooted about now. He unbuttoned his jeans and tossed them in the pile of other clothing. Another round in last place and he'd be naked. Luckily after all of them had rolled it had been Demyx that had come in last and kicked his other boot off. Luxord rolled two 5's and got the hundred points he needed to win.

"And that makes me the champion, do you wish to continue playing for second place?" Luxord asked.

"**_No"_** Marluxia and Axel both agreed, sitting in there underwear. Luxord chuckled and waved his hands, causing the dice to disappear, along with the nobody score keeper and the scoreboards. Axel quickly jumped up and snatched his coat up and threw it on. " Well this was complete and utter waist of time" he growled. Then he smiled " Maybe we should do it again sometime." And then he disappeared.

Larxene quickly gathered up her things. She laughed as he disappeared and muttered " he's an odd one alright, but I think he's getting more accustomed to people, and that's good, even if I have to embarrass him a bit along the way"

((Note from the author: well here ya go, not as big of a chapter as I thought it would end up being but not a bad one. Not quite long enough for you? Don't worry I'm already working on the next chapter. I'm going to try and include every Organization member so no one feels left out. This chapter was my little ode to Luxord. He may come up in other chapters but this was his main one. Characters you'll be seeing the most of are Larxene (duh) Axel (duh) and Maluxia.))


	5. Training and Tears, Love, Lust, and Fear

Chapter 5: Training and Tears, Love Lust and Fear

((From the author: This is where things will start heating up. This chapter is going to be filled with jealousy, blood, lust, drug references, violence and an ass-load of cursing, please turn the little ones away from the screen. Also making his first appearance in this series: Lexaeus. enjoy))

Xemnas was looking through his paper work, sighing every now and then. He hated the necessity of all the shit he had to do. He was about to become annoyed when he herd a soft raping on the door, probably Saïx. "Come in" he called cheerily. Lexaeus walked in and Xemnas frowned. " Oh…yes what do you need? I'm terribly busy you know and nobodies coming in here ever minute to annoy me doesn't help progress it."

"Yes I know superior, I'll make it quick. I just wanted to let you know it was time for exams, that's all. I wanted to know if you planned on postponing them because of the new girl or…" he trailed off to allow Xemnas a chance to speak.

It had completely slipped his mind. Xemnas sighed heavily and waved a hand dismissively. " No we wont postpone, she's no weakling, I've seen her fight myself." Felt her was more like it. She had nearly broke his ribs when he first happened upon her. " Go fetch Xigbar and do me a favor. You two can organize the exams this year I have much too much work to be troubled with it myself." He waved his hand again, dismissing Lexaeus. 

Lexaeus muttered a thank you and vanished to collect Xigbar, who was probably off jerking himself to the new playboy magazine. Lexaeus had spotted him with it earlier, giggling and trying to hide it. 

Xemnas had just focused back on his work when there was another knock. **_" What is it? I'm busy!"_** Saïx crept in, smiling. " Oh, sorry, I was just dealing with some work" Xemnas muttered and shoved it away. He got to his feet and walked over to Saïx. 

"Its okay, I know you're under a lot of stress" Saïx purred and rubbed Xemnas's shoulders. Xemnas gave a soft sigh of pleasure and Saïx muttered, " relax for a while. Too much stress isn't good for you."

… 

Larxene shoved another handful of Cheese-It's in her mouth and glared at her hand. Nothing. " You have any Sixes," she asked glaring at Luxord. 

"Go Fish" he replied with a grin.

"Who has the last damn six then?" she snapped at her partners. Her, Demyx, and Luxord had been playing an intense game of Go-Fish and some one was hiding the sixes from her. There was a sudden knock on the door.

The door opened and Marluxia breezed in. " How dare you guys play a game without inviting me? I'm hurt guys, I really am." It had been three weeks since the strip dice game. Everything had been pretty normal after that. Larxene had spent a good deal of time hanging out with Luxord and playing cards with him. The rest of her time had been divided three ways, listening to Demyx play sitar, eating Cheese-it's, and admiring Marluxia's garden. 

"You know Marlu if I'm not with you or Demyx I'm probably here" she said. " Come on, pull up a chair, s'not to late to join."

Luxord grinned then chuckled "Your welcome to drop by when ever you want you know Marluxia. I positively adore your company. You know when ever Saïx is out I'm typically playing some game or another." 

Marluxia suddenly looked as if he remembered something. " I just saw Saïx by the way" he said then giggled. " He was going down to Xemnas's office." 

"He dose spend a vast majority of his time down there. Some times the mind wonders on what business takes them so long to conduct." he grinned and chuckled "of course I don't believe in spreading rumors."

"Oh and I also just saw Lexaeus too, I don't think you've met him yet Larxene" Marluxia said. He looked troubled and anxious at the same time. "He said were having our exams in three days, Larxene too." 

"Once a year the whole Organization has to take physical exams" Demyx explained. " Only its done in the way of a single elimination tournament. Once…" He started to say more then stopped. The three boys exchanged uneasy glances, making Larxene mad. Demyx looked at Marluxia pleadingly but he shook his head. Demyx sighed then continued " Your not the first girl to ever be in the Organization Larxene. Once upon a time there were only nine of us, me being the tenth. Number nine had been a girl named Sailex. She was really mean all the time. She'd only been with us a few months when exams came up and… well…she got killed in the fighting. …Snapped her spine…it wasn't pretty." 

Larxene felt the three of them staring at her as she rolled it over in her head. " Well that's her problem then isn't it? Luckily I'm not her." Larxene smiled, as if nothing they had told her mattered. To her it didn't. So what if some pansy girl got her spine snapped?

"Lar what if-" Marluxia began but Larxene held her hand up.

"Don't worry about it, I'm a lot tougher than I look you know. In fact I'm offended that you don't think I can hold my own. I'll show you all, come exam time I'll kick all your butts." And with that she stormed off.

…

A rather uninterested Axel matched as Marluxia paced back and forth, occasionally kneeling down to examine something. He had taken Larxene's advice and decided to spend more time with the other members of the Organization. Luxord and Marluxia had both volunteered their time. So Axel was spending the day watching Marluxia play gardener, not exactly thrilling. He was beginning to understand why she had suggested it, the other members were so boring he felt like he needed to talk just to make the silence go away.

"Why do you like flowers so much anyways?" he finally muttered, feeling an odd relief at hearing himself speak, as if he though he had forgotten how to.

Marluxia looked up from the place he had been kneeling by and smiled at him. "I don't know actually. It's just always been my thing. Why do you like fire so much?" Marluxia stood and brushed himself off.

"Your not supposed to answer a question with another question" Axel grunted, annoyed my Marluxia's choice of reply.

"What? Was it too complex for you inferior intelligence to grasp?" Marluxia said, trying his best to sound like Zexion. Then he began laughing and Axel realized he was chuckling too. He stood up and began walking away, punching Marluxia lightly on the shoulder as he was leaving. " Where are you going? You know I was just kidding right?"

"Like I'd be offended by anything you have to say flower boy. I was gonna go snag a soda or something, it so fucking hot out here."

Marluxia was a bit startled by Axel. He hard herd him use fuck more times in one sentence than he had said in all his life, Marluxia usually didn't curse unless he was very angry though. Axel just cursed as he pleased.

"It has to be for the flowers." Marluxia waved a hand to indicate the air. "If there's any Mountain Dew in the fridge could you snag me one" Marluxia asked as Axel was disappearing back into the castle.

"No" He called back.

…

Larxene smiled, immediately noticing the song as Demyx began playing it.

"She got a smile that seems to me reminds me of childhood memories where everything was as precious as the bright blue sky" he sang. Marluxia wasn't kidding, he did sing like an angel. Larxene aloud herself to be hypnotized by the Melodious Nocturne.

Only after the song ended she spoke. " So is that how you win in a fight? Hypnotize them with an angelic voice?"

Demyx laughed and said "something like that. Can't be telling you my battle strategy with the exam only a few days away." He smiled in that oddly enchanting way he always smiled and then got up." I think I'll go on and stop bothering you for now. I'm gonna harass Lexaeus a bit and see if he'll give out the tournament roster. It helps to know who you'll be fighting against, ya know." And with that he disappeared out the door.

Not seeing sitting around as being very productive Larxene got up and looked around for something else to do. Maybe She'd go interrogate Luxord to what happened to that missing six in the game yesterday.

…

Axel sat down again and handed Marluxia a Mountain Dew " Last one Mar. You owe me" He said and grinned savagely.

"Thank you Axel" he said politely and popped the can open and chugged it. Axel confused Marluxia. In his absence he had wondered about the Flurry of Dancing Flames. He was smart, but in a creepy way, and sometimes he'd act as bitter and hateful as Xaldin and within five minutes be as playful as Demyx. He made snide comments and pulled pranks on people yet he seemed nothing more than just want friends deep down.

Another thing Marluxia noted was that Axel never apologized for anything to anyone… except Larxene.

He finished chugging the soda and crushed the can. He grinned at Axel and said, " You like her don't you?"

Axel , who had been drinking from a bottle of Budweiser, sudden spit it out and glared at Marluxia. "Who?" he asked, pretending not to know.

Marluxia giggled. "Awwww there's no shame in having a crush on a girl Axel. Especially a girl like Larxene."

Axel grunted and took another long drink. Marluxia thought by the time he finished up that bottle he'd be loose enough to talk. Marluxia giggled again and went back to messing with his flowers while Axel sat and drank.

It had only been a few moments when Axel said, " She's really got a temper though huh? Some idiot set her off the other day. I didn't even do anything and she punched me square in the jaw…hurt too."

Marluxia bust out laughing so hard he had to sit down. "Sounds like her." When the fit of laughter had passed a serious thought had occurred to him. " I wonder what her story is? You don't get to be though like that unless you've had someone really put you through it."

Axel shrugged " ask her then."

"No way, its none of my business, if she wants to spill then she can, I ain't gonna ask her."

"Then don't bitch about it" Axel muttered.

Marluxia sighed, curiosity nagging at him on one hand, and his body reminding him when Larxene got angry she could hit hard. That led on into other thoughts finally resulting in thinking about the exams. " Hey Axel?"

"Whut?" He said, his voice a bit slurred. Boy didn't know how to handle his alcohol. Marluxia had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"Thinking of Larxene…you think she'll be okay in the exams commin up? You were here when the last girl died weren't you."

Axel nodded then muttered, " She deserved it though, she was a real bitch." Marluxia looked at him, a bit startled by Axel's way of thinking. Axel laughed at Marluxia's expression.

Marluxia once again turned back to his flowers, many thoughts plaguing his mind. Axel looked at him and had to wonder too him self, what was Marluxia's story? Marluxia was always interested in other people's background but he had never told a soul about himself. Axel remembered the day he first showed up.

((AN: flash back! Its italicized so when it's over you'll know))

Axel was coming down the stairs into the main hall. He turned to see Zexion dragging a scrawny soaking wet young man. He was dressed in a black tank top and baggy black shorts. He had on a black sock hat from which shaggy pink hair was spilled over his face. His eyes were wide with fear and bloodshot. Axel laughed to himself; his first thought of the guy was he looked like a drug dealer.

The man looked up from the floor, which he had been glaring at intently. "Where am I?" he asked, sounding angry.

"_The world that never was" Zexion replied sharply, then added, " It'll be your new home."_

_The man glared at Zexion and jerked away from him. " No way, I wanna go home, back to my real home. What's going on? Do you know kidnapping is a felony?" from the way he spoke Axel assumed he was indeed stoned. Yay, one point for Axel._

_Zexion smirked and said " Yes, and so is smoking pot, but you don't see me threatening you. Come on you druggie, you should be thanking me for saving you, if I hadn't come along when I did those heartless probably would have killed you. Too bad you got screwed over by them anyway." Zexion poked the guy hard on the chest to illustrate his point " you're a nobody now, your one of us, this is your home. Come on Now, I'm gonna take you to see Xemnas. What's your name?"_

"_Lumaria, wait, why am I telling you this? Who's Xemnas? I don't wanna be here I wanna go back home. Please I don't want to be –" it must have just now hit him. He fell silent, brooding over what Zexion had said. He touched his chest and muttered, "…My heart…it's gone…so am I a heartless now?"_

"_No, you're a nobody, a shell of a person. It's okay though; you won't have to be one forever. It's not in my jurisdiction to tell you all that though, that's Xemnas's job. Now come on you pot head, your wasting my time."_

_Axel watched them walk away. He had forgot what he had originally come down here for. He let his thoughts linger on the guy who'd just come in. "Jeezus we got quite a motley crew in the organization" he muttered. " A druggie/drug dealer is all we were missing."_

Axel laughed, recalling the memory. For weeks Marluxia had been very twitchy and irritable. Axel had assumed it was drug withdrawal. After a while though he had mellowed out. He was a nice guy, as long as you kept him away from drugs.

Marluxia looked up at him and frowned. " What are you laughing at?"

Axel laughed harder, " nothing, nothing. Hey Marluxia, you aren't by chance growing anything illegal amongst those flowers are you?"

Marluxia stared at him wide eyed; surprised he would even say anything like that. Marluxia was very sensitive when people talked about his past drug problems. Suddenly he was angry rather than shocked. " Shut the fuck up Axel, your no saint you know."

"so you **_are_** growing pot?" Axel said and laughed.

Marluxia grabbed Axel by the collar of his shirt and jerked him off his feet. Axel had never had much to do with Marluxia, he had had no idea how strong Marluxia. It would be easy to under estimate the timid gardener by his looks and personality. Once he was pissed off though, it was easy to see why people never pissed him off more than once. Marluxia then hurled Axel and snapped, " don't underestimate me because I'm not a fucking jerk like you Axel. That's a warning, don't fuck with me."

Axel got up from the place he had landed. _Damn he's strong_, Axel thought, his head spinning. He tried to move but he stumbled and fell back down. " I guess drug dealers have to be strong so they can beat the shit out of people if the don't pay up" he thought out loud.

"What'd you say?" Marluxia snapped, still on edge about the former comment.

Axel felt his heart skip a beat " nothing" he quickly said.

"Good answer" Marluxia grunted, then walked away to a different part of the garden.

…

Larxene wondered down the hall when she happened upon Saïx. "Hey Saïx, what's up" she asked, trying to be pleasant.

Saïx looked up then back at her. " The ceiling" he commented and Larxene giggled. He shot her a strange look.

" I had a feeling you'd say something like that. You seem the type. Quite, calm, collected, people like that have a tendency to be a smart ass." She laughed again when he gave her a slight frown. " I think that's the most of an emotion you've shown since I've been here."

"We don't have emotions Larxene," he stated neutrally.

Larxene frowned. Xemnas had told her that but she hadn't really believed him. She still felt things. Emotions did seem different now, different in a way that was hard to put a finger on, but there nonetheless. "Yeah we do" she argued.

"If your referring to idiots like yourself and Demyx those are hollow and unreal emotions derived from your memories of having emotions, nothing more. Your all fools trying to convince yourselves you're a real person but your not." And with that he strolled away.

Larxene made no attempt to follow him. "Ouch" she said. They did have emotions, they had to. They couldn't be real if they didn't. After what Saïx said though she only half believed it herself.

…

"Get up sleepy head, its only a few hours before the exams start, don't wanna be out there fighting in your p.j's do ya?" Marluxia said and giggled. He knocked on the door again and got a groan in reply. " get up –"

" **_I'm getting up_** " Axel screamed and threw something at the door. Marluxia laughed wildly and disappeared before Axel decided to beat him senseless for waking him up. While Marluxia tried not to hold grudges, waking Axel up early was his small revenge for the cracks he had made yesterday.

"Jeezus Axel calm down" Demyx whined. He himself was half asleep. He hated sharing a room with Axel. Axel was normally off making fun of somebody or doing something destructive but when he wasn't he was in here taunting Demyx.

Axel growled angrily and got out of bed. He changed his clothes and threw his cloak on and was out the door before Demyx had gotten up. If he saw Marluxia before the exams he was going to beat his soul from his body. _You won't have to worry about being a nobody anymore_.

…

After he was a safe distance from Axel's room Marluxia slowed down. He stopped outside Larxene's door. He knocked on it softly.

"Come in, its unlocked" Larxene called. He walked in and she looked over at him and smiled. " Hey Marlu, I was just doing a bit of target practice before the exams."

Marluxia saw a small shadow heartless lying on the ground, writhing in pain from the multiple kunai sticking out of its form. He chuckled at she threw the last kunai, nailing the creature between the eyes. It disappeared in a poof and the kunai clattered to the floor. Larxene picked them back up and turned to Marluxia.

"What do you want?" she asked. She figured everyone would be doing a bit of practice for the exams.

"Nothing, just killing time before the exams. Zexion kicked me out of the room this morning so he could get dressed. He doesn't trust me" Marluxia said and laughed.

Larxene gave him a puzzled look. It had never occurred to her that he might be gay. Feminine sure, but gay? Now her curiosity was peaked. " why?" she asked.

Marluxia shrugged. He didn't know what to say. Maybe Larxene wasn't so judgmental as everyone else. Everyone in the organization had taken one look at him and labeled him gay. "You don't think I'm gay?" he asked.

"Truthfully I don't know what to think. Are you gay?"

Marluxia laughed. " Maybe…maybe not. Assume what you want. I'll leave you to do your target practice on defenseless heartless. Ta ta love" he said and smiled. A strange thought crept into his head and he found himself acting on it before he even fully understood what he was thinking. He placed a hand on the side of Larxene's face and kissed her. Not in a nice friendly way either. When they broke apart Larxene stared at him baffled. He smiled and disappeared out the door.

"What…in the hell was that about?" Larxene wondered aloud. In some secret place in the back of her mind she was thinking _wow, I wonder where he learned to kiss like that._

…

Marluxia didn't fully understand himself why he had just done what he had. He had managed to confuse himself. Did he like Larxene? She was a nice friend and all but he didn't think he liked her that way. And the he confronted himself with the question everyone else had been asking, am I gay?

He wasn't really sure himself. Everyone had always told him he was so he had always assumed it was true. He thought ' well if everyone says I'm gay, I must be.' He had never really liked any girls, but he'd never liked any guys either. The whole thing with Zexion had always been a joke to him. Since Zexion was his roommate he'd hit on him just to make him feel uncomfortable. He wasn't really interested in him, though flirting with him had always produced some laughs.

The day he'd met Larxene he'd been harassing Zexion. He had been having an innocent conversation with the cloaked schemer when Marluxia had asked out of nowhere ' you ever had sex with a man?' Zexion must have herd ' will you have sex with me' because he bolted up and ran down the hall screaming 'keep him away from me' as loud as he could.

The mere memory caused Marluxia to giggle. He had a twisted since of humor sometimes. He opened the door to his room just in time to catch Zexion buttoning his jeans. " Awwww if I had only gotten here a few minutes earlier" he teased, and then laughed when Zexion went pale. " Kidding Zexy, but I do have something serious to ask you." If anyone could help him with his dilemma Zexion would. He was the smartest member in the organization.

Zexion slipped his cloak on then turned to face Marluxia cautiously. " What is it Mar?" Zexion asked bitterly.

'Am I gay?' was Marluxia's first thought but he decided to rephrase it, knowing what Zexion would say. " I think I might be in love Zexion, but I need your advice." Marluxia didn't know what else to say.

Zexion shifted uncomfortably " Listen Mar, you're a great guy and everything but I'm just not that-"

"Not you" Marluxia snapped. He almost said her name, but decided against it. That might make things worse.

Zexion frowned at him. " You know Marluxia, we can't love. We're nobodies. We have no hearts and there fore can't feel."

Everyone reminded him of that constantly. It was truly annoying. As much as everyone told him he couldn't feel things, that the emotions he had were just illusions he knew they weren't. The other day he had felt genuinely enraged at Axel. If he hadn't been he wouldn't have tossed him like a Frisbee.

"Okay then. Hypothetically we can feel, what should I do?"

Zexion frowned. Little did Marluxia knew he knew **exactly** what Marluxia was talking about. " I suppose you tell them."

Marluxia didn't like the sound of that. Tell Larxene that he though he liked her? Chaos would then ensue. "Any other ideas Zexion. I'd rather not tell them , sh-they might kill me."

Zexion shrugged. "I suppose you could try to romance them or something. A guy like you though, your better suited to pick up chicks than guys. Chicks dig flowers and all that, but most guys aren't, only you. So I really don't know what to tell you, unless you're trying to romance Larxene." He said the last part as a joke and burst out laughing. Little did he know he helped out a lot more than he had intended to.

"Thanks Zexion, you're a real pal" Marluxia said and smiled.

" Yeah, yeah, I'm the greatest I know already. I'll see you at the exams." Before Marluxia could ask where he was going he vanished into a portal of darkness.

Zexion appeared in Xigbar's room and smiled at him. " I've got some news that'll trouble Xemnas" he said and giggled. He only aloud himself to do so around Xigbar.

Xigbar grinned wildly " Really? Good, what is it?"

"Another organization member is seeing through his veil of lies. I think Marluxia is beginning to realize nobodies do have emotions. Xemnas will be pissed if he finds out since he is trying to convince everyone we don't."

"Really? That's great. You know I over heard a conversation between Saïx and the new girl, Larxene. I think She doesn't believe Xemnas's bullshit either. She told Saïx that she had emotions."

"That's wonderful love. There might be people we'll never convince nobodies have emotions, like Xaldin or Vexen. If we can get some of them to come around though we can over throw this bullshit organization. Xemnas only wants to collect powerful nobodies to do his dirty work by telling us we don't have emotions and that he can give us our hearts back by working for him. But we do have emotions…there just a little different. If we didn't I would have never fallen in love with you" Zexion purred and nuzzled Xigbar affectionately.

Xigbar kissed Zexion gently on the lips and muttered " come on, lets go. Exams are gonna start in a few minutes."

…

Marluxia walked down the hall, down the stairs to one of the basement floors. The basement floors were normally stuff the nobodies could do to entertain themselves, such as the library Vexen, and now Larxene, spent so much time in. This particular level though was a stadium, used for sparing and the exams. It was a nice sized stadium with several rows of seating, many more than they would ever need. The only one more impressive would probably be the Olympus Coliseum.

Marluxia walked around the rows of seating when he saw something that shocked him. Larxene was sitting next to Axel. They seemed to be having a good time. He could hear Larxene giggling, indicating Axel had said something funny. What surprised him the most was that Axel had put his arm around her shoulders. She didn't seem to mind, in fact she seemed to be enjoying it. Then Marluxia startled himself…

He felt jealous.

((Authors Note: Yay! Plot twists! Conspiracy! So yeah, the entire organization is built on a foundation of lies. And also Zexion and Xigbar! They make a good couple. And also a complicated love triangle has begun (Axel, Larxene, Marluxia). This fic is only gonna get more and more interesting, heck I didn't even predict how some of this was gonna turn out. Especially the part about Marluxia being a pot smoker, but I figured it made since, he dose like to garden, but maybe I'm stereotyping gardeners. At any rate, stick around, cause the next chapters gonna be the best yet :)

P.S. Sailex is an anagram of Alexis, my dearest. ))


	6. Encounters

Larxene is pretty messed up emotionally. Axel's messed up mentally, and Marluxia finds himself back in bad habits. What secret is Demyx so jealously guarding? All four are about to discover a major secret, which could mean the end of Organization XIII…

Chapter 6: Encounters

((From the author: I want to start off by thanking everyone who has read and reviewed this story. Your support keeps me going, even when I fall ill with writer's block. Now that all that mushy-ness is out of the way I need to explain something about this chapter. It's a short one I know, but chapter 7 is already half way done so it should be up a lot quicker than this one. Second of all this is more of a just ' getting to know the characters' chapter. As I was writing it out I realized, you have to know whats going on in their heads to fully understand whats going on. So did this story twice, once in Marluxia's perspective and once in Axel's. I hope this doesn't confuse you all and hope you like it. Sorry it took so long, between work and writers block I was having a hard time.))

Marluxia 

I don't know why but seeing Axel all over her made me feel jealous. It was probably that moment that I decided I wanted Larxene to be mine. In an act of stupidity I let my jealousy manifest itself in the form of my scythe. I slung it over my shoulder as I always did. Allowing myself to act on my jealousy I walked over to them. I grinned at them both and Axel looked up at me, giving me a look in between puzzlement and anger. I could tell what he was thinking.

"Hey guys," I said, trying to make myself sound pleasant.

"Hey Marlu" Larxene said and smiled. You only realize small details about people once you start thinking about them more. I had always noticed more often than not when she was new here she always smiled as if she was obligated to, not because she wanted to. Now, more and more I had seen her smiling cause she was genuinely happy.

How could that be if we didn't have emotions? I'd have to go shove that in Xemnas's face.

"Marluxia" Axel acknowledged tensely.

I forced myself to laugh " are you still angry about what happened the other day Axel? I didn't mean to hurt you that bad. Or did I just ruffle your pride a bit?" that was how you had to get to Axel, attack his pride. His pride came even before his life in his eyes. He glared at me and Larxene gave us both a confused look.

I waved my hand dismissively "it was nothing. Axel just being a jerk like always so I lost my temper." I did my best explain without further angering Axel and without mentioning what had transpired between Axel and I the other day, for both our sakes.

She nodded, taking my explanation. Her eyes were focused on something else. She looked slightly intimidated. I turned around to see what it was. Then it hit me, she was probably looking at my scythe. " Oh, this thing?" I asked and held it out so she could see it. Her eyes were wide and she whistled.

"Wow, that's one fancy weapon" she muttered. She attempted to hold it but she stumbled backwards from the weight. Axel caught her and I took the scythe back and shouldered it. " You make it look easy" she muttered, sounding annoyed, probably at her own weakness.

I laughed " practice. It takes a lot of practice to use a weapon like this. Trust me, I fell over a few times myself." The last part was a lie, I'd never had any problem with it, but I thought it would make her feel better. She nodded, excepting what I had said.

Larxene held out a hand and four kunai appeared between her fingers. She giggled and said, " I'll stick with what I'm good at."

Axel smirked cockily and held a hand out in front of him. A sudden flash of flames and a chakram appeared in his hand. He held it out to where Larxene could see it and she cautiously liffted it. She didn't have a problem with it. In fact she took it and gave it a pefect toss, sending it flying with deadly accuracy towards an organization member who I couldn't make out from here. Luckily it missed.

Axel looked at her, startled then he laughed. " not a bad throw."

"Ranged weapons have always been a specialty of mine" she said and giggled.

The chakram reappeared in Axel's hand and then the other one appeared in his other hand. He held them at his side and corrected her. " You know technicaly they can be used as both ranged and melee weapons. Like this."

Before I knew what was happening Axel had launched himself at me. I barely had enogh time to swing my scythe down and use it to defflect one chakram aimed at my head. The other one missed me, barely. Luckily I had backpedaled enogh from the first hit. He took another swing at me and I parried again. This time I knocked the chakrams out of his hands. I dropped the scythe then and gave him a good old fashion punch in the face. He punched me in the gut and my kneese buckled for a moment before I realized he had left himself open. I quickly elbowed him as hard as I could in the back of the head and he went down. I then promptly steped on his back and laughed.

"you might be faster than me Axel, but you don't know how to use it to your advantage. Tsk tsk, lets hope you get better before I meet you in the exams, if I do." I felt like I had earned the right to taunt him after my victory. Well my victory of the moment.

Axel quickly shifted and I lost my balance. He took advantage of that and knocked me off my feet. I hit the ground hard and I felt him sit down on my back, holding my arms against my back. I writhed and made an attempt to escape.

"Tsk tsk Marluxia. You might be stronger than me, but brute strenght won't help you in a fight where you can't catch your oponet." He was mocking me. It made me want to rip his head off.

Axel 

Since that bastard Marluxia had woke me up so early I decided to head down to the stadium where the exams would be. As I was traveling down the hallways I spotted Larxene, she looked confused. I laughed to myself; we needed to print up maps for new members.

"Hey Larxene. You lost? If you want I can help." I held a hand out to her and he first reaction was glaring at me. Damn that girl had a lot of pride.

"I'm fine" she snapped at me and headed down the wrong hallway.

"Okay, fine" I said holding my hands up in surrender. " If you're looking for the exams stadium you're going the wrong way." I smiled at her reaction. The littlest things set her off, it was kind of funny to watch tiny things like being corrected send her into fury.

"I knew that" she snapped and went down another wrong hallway.

I sighed and this time walked after her. I gently grabbed her by the arm and steered her in the right direction. I said nothing, just waited to see what she'd do. I though she might hit me, or yell at me, or something negative. Instead she just stared at me. It was unsettling.

"So you're actually not just being a creep this time" she asked. It took me a second to process what she meant. I turned dark red, remembering the way I had acted. I had been completely berserk with lust and anger. No wonder she'd been so snappish with me.

"Don't insult me. I think I'm doing very good in the ways of not being psychopathic." I grinned at her and she laughed. I had to admit she was really pretty. I had thought she was from the moment I saw her. Of course, being the idiot I had been at the time instead of being nice to her I had acted like a jerk and she had hated me. I was relived she was so eager to forgive me.

"If your not planning to abduct me this time then yeah, I could use some help with the directions" she admitted. She, much like myself, hated admitting she didn't know what she was doing.

" Yeah I'll talk to Xemnas about printing up some maps of the castle." I figured the sarcastic comment might put her off but she giggled instead. " Its just down the stairs, come on." I grabbed her fore arm gently and pulled her along. I notice her wince and try to get out of my hold so I let go. I was a bit offended but I didn't say anything.

I led her down the stairs, looking back often to see how she was coming along. She'd stop every now and then to look at something before hurrying back beside me. "This place is actually pretty neat if you stop to look at it. I always thought it seemed sorta bland all the black, white, and gray. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover huh? That goes for the castle and its in habitants" she said and giggled. What was that supposed to mean? Was she talking about me? Marluxia? Demyx? Possibly Luxord? A few ideas raced through my head, some of them a bit graphic. I herd her laugh again, " what are you thinking about so hard?" she asked. I must have looked like I was thinking a lot.

"hn? Nothing, random thoughts, kittens on fire, puppies on fire, Old ladies on fire, etcetera."

We arrived at the stadium a few moments later. She looked around, awed by it. I laughed and she glared at me. Not one of her typical death glares but more of a ' hey, if I wanna be impressed I will, its none of your business' type glare. I flinched and muttered " wow if looks could kill."

She giggled at me and said "you know if I can look past your arrogance sometimes, your actually pretty funny." She poked me hard on the chest then walked off. I stood, a bit stunned before I followed after her. It wasn't exactly hard to find seats in this place, considering it was a million times bigger than it needed to be. Larxene sat down a few rows up and I sat down next to her.

The scariest part about all of that? We actually carried on a normal conversation. I never have normal conversations. It was awkward at first but then as we kept talking I got gradually more use to it.

"So are you nervous?" she had asked me.

"Not really, I've done this before, twice" I said, holding up two fingers to illustrate. She nodded. I don't know why but I was compelled to ask, " what about you?"

she looked at me surprised I had asked. She shrugged and said "A little, but this is my first time. Something is always scary the first time though. You can't tell me you've never been scared before."

I laughed " Nope. Commit this to memory, I never get scared. _Ever_."

She laughed again. Slowly I found myself putting my arm around her shoulders. When I did she tossed me a weird glance. I was surprised when she didn't say anything. In fact she didn't seem to mind at all. I'd go as far as to say she liked it. I grinned at her and she surprised me again by smiling back. But, being me, nothing good could ever last.

"Hey guys" Marluxia said, faked friendliness in his voice. I glared at him and he returned it. What was his problem?

"Hey Marlu" Larxene said, smiling. I felt something in my gut lurch. I didn't like the feeling, and yet I did, because it was a feeling.

"Marluxia" I acknowledged him.

He picked up on the apprehension in my voice and laughed. "Are you still angry about what happened the other day Axel? I didn't mean to hurt you that bad. Or did I just ruffle your pride a bit?"

I bit my lip to keep from snapping back at him. I wanted to knock that cocky look of his clean off his face. I glared at him and he smirked triumphantly. I could tell by the look on her face Larxene was confused. I had begun to say something when Marluxia cut in again.

"It was nothing. Axel just being a jerk like always so I lost my temper." At least this time he wasn't making me sound like a complete idiot. He was just making me sound like a jerk.

I noticed Larxene was staring at him funny. She cocked her head to the side slightly. It took me a second to realize what she was staring at. That pink monster of a scythe he called a weapon. Weapon, more like death machine. If death machines were pretty and pink and smelled like flowers. One of these days he was going to kill someone with it.

" Oh, this thing?" Marluxia asked and held it out so she could see it. Her eyes were wide and she whistled.

"Wow, that's one fancy weapon" she muttered. She attempted to hold it but she stumbled backwards from the weight. I moved forward and caught her to keep her from falling on her ass.

" You make it look easy" she said distastefully. I could tell she was angry from her tone. More than likely it was directed more at the inanimate object rather than Marluxia. Shame.

Marluxia laughed and said " practice. It takes a lot of practice to use a weapon like this. Trust me, I fell over a few times myself." Funny, I'd never seen him so much as lose his balance swinging that massive monster of a weapon around.

Larxene held out a hand. Come to think of it, I don't believe I had ever seen her weapons. Four kunai appeared with a crackle of an electric charge. " I'll stick with what I'm good at" she said and giggled.

Fine, if everyone else was bringing out their toys I wanted to show mine off too. I held out my hand and summoned one of my infamous chakrams in a blaze of showy flames. Larxene gazed at it, ever so slightly amazed by it. Score one point for Axel. I held it out and she snatched it from me. Before I realized what she was doing she had hurled it like a Frisbee off towards the opposite side of the stadium, where another organization member barley dodged it.

I laughed nervously. "not a bad throw" I admitted. If they hadn't ducked when they did, we'd be short a member. Organization XI just didn't have as good of a ring to it as Organization XII.

"Ranged weapons have always been a specialty of mine" she said and giggled. My only though: no shit.

I saw the look Marluxia was giving me, a kind of vile smirk that made me want to put a dent in his pretty boy face. I re-summoned my lethal weapon in one hand and its parter in the other. I corrected Larxene " You know technicaly they can be used as both ranged and melee weapons. Like this."

I launched myself forward, an attemot to wipe that shit eating grin off Marluxia's face. I slashed, only to feel a painful vibration in my arm. Deflected. He had used his damn sythe to parry me. I quickly tried another attack while I still had momentum on my side. He backpedeld away, just out of reach. I made one last attempt at hitting and I was deflected again. This time he used the sythe to knock the chakrams clear out of my hands. He dropped his sythe and before I realised it he had punched me square in the face. Fine, he wasnted to play dirty? He'd get it then. I punched him in the gut (though secretly I had hopped to nail him in the crotch) . He staggered for a moment and then I felt his elbow crash down on the back of my head. Shit, I had left myself open.

I dropped, and I dropped hard. I felt the pain of Marluxia's boot digging into my back. Then he started laughing at me, which only further pissed me off. "you might be faster than me Axel, but you don't know how to use it to your advantage. Tsk tsk, lets hope you get better before I meet you in the exams, if I do." Alright, now I had earned the right to beat his ass in for that outburst.

I quickly shifted, knocking him off balance. I promtly followed it up by kicking his legs out from under him. He hit the ground hard, so I took advantage of the opertunity. I sat down on his back and pinned his arms behind him while he struggled to get up. I won!

Time for me to brag. "Tsk tsk Marluxia. You might be stronger than me, but brute strenght won't help you in a fight where you can't catch your oponet."He growled savagely and shifted, trying to get at me. But he couldn't. I smirked and laughed as he cursed.

((Quick Note: I did a section on Demyx as a bonus for making you wait so long, which takes place at the beginning of chapter 7))

Demyx 

I entered the doors to the stadium just in time to see a chakram flying full speed. I followed its path with my eyes and saw the unfortunate Saïx in it trajectory. I started to say something but the weapon was a lot faster than my brain. I closed my eyes as I herd the thud of metal hitting concrete. I look up to see Saïx had ducked away, barley.

"You okay?" I called nervously. He nodded, brushing off concrete dust from the chakram's impact. I looked at the huge dent it had left in the wall and winced. Was Axel mad or something? The chakram had already vanished, probably re-summoned or dismissed. I looked up in the seats and I saw Axel and Marluxia. I couldn't see very well from where I was.

I walked up the rows of seats till I was the three figures, Larxene, Axel, and Marluxia. Larxene was standing there, a look of amusement on her face. She giggled and then I noticed why. I saw Axel sitting on top of Marluxia who was writhing and bucking wildly in an attempt to get out of Axel's grasp. It looked a bit…odd. I felt a slight heat rise up in my cheeks, feeling a little bit dirty at a few of the thoughts going through my head.

"Had enough yet?" Axel taunted, chuckling sinisterly like he always did. He was a real jerk sometimes; I wonder what Larxene saw in him. I could tell she was really fond of him, even though she pretended to hate him and he treated her like a sack of crap.

"Let me up you ass hole " Marluxia snapped, fighting valiantly. Even though he was smaller, Axel was pretty strong. Marluxia was probably going easy on him though, not wanting to waist energy before the exams. Marluxia was probably the strongest of us all. Funny, he was the only guy that got picked on more than me, but he was more useful than me. I couldn't fight to save my life. In these exams I always lost the first round. I was going to try extra hard this year though. Everyone in the Organization knew there was more on the line this year. Why? Because there was a girl among us.

It's just a fact; men always act more violent when a woman is around, thinking it'll impress her. Being fairly well associated with Larxene I knew it was a wasted effort, but still it would be pretty neat to have a girl say, even if only once, ' wow Demyx you don't totally suck!' Yeah I know, I have low standards, but that's on my wish list. And I mean she was pretty too.

Yeah, in my dreams. I didn't have a shot with her, ever. Especially not because of my secrets. The ones I write down in my journal and don't tell anyone. Not even my best friends. Especially not my best friend, Marluxia. He'd think I was weird. And then he'd tell everyone. I'd just have to learn to live with the fact I'm a complete and total looser. I was getting ready to walk away when she said " hey Demyx."

I looked over at her and smiled and she waved and tapped the seat next to hers. She wanted me to sit by her? I thought my heart skipped a beat. Then I remembered I don't have a heart and I laugh at my own idiocy. Non the less I went and sat next to her, watching Marluxia and Axel rolling around on the floor, struggling and fighting each other like animals. I was going to say something when I herd Xemnas's voice over a loudspeaker. When did we get those installed?

"Attention, Members of Organization XIII the exams will officially begin in three minutes. Please find your seats and stay there till I say other wise"

Axel finally let go of Marluxia, jumping back as he made a few savage swings at Axel. Marluxia was ready to run after him when the Superior's voice said softly "Take. Your. Seat." How in God's name did he get over here to fast? I felt myself jump a little bit and Larxene laughed as Marluxia slunk into the empty seat next to me. Axel sat down on the other side of her and the superior strode down the rows out onto the arena floor and called out the first match:

"Xaldin and Demyx, come to the floor now."

…and with that announcement the exams were underway.

((Authors note: ooooh…what is Demyx's secret hmmm? You'll get an idea of it in the next chapter hahaha. Sorry again that this chapter took so long. Really my main problem was Axel. I had a feeling he was a bit out of character so I kept re-doing his part over and over again. Marluxia took me about an hour and Demyx only took like half an hour. So if everyone seems a little out of character I'm sorry about that. Any way, please review, its what makes me write more. Chapter 7 should be up fairly soon. I've already written five pages, and that's really just the beginning of the exams. I might have to split up the exams into multiple chapters. Anyway, tata for now loves))


	7. Exams: Part 1

Chapter 7: Final Exams

– part1-

Larxene stared at Axel and Marluxia as Axel held Marluxia down against the floor and laughed at him.

"Had enough yet" Axel said, pushing Marluxia's face into the concrete.

"Let me up you ass hole" Marluxia snarled. Larxene had never herd Marluxia curse in such away. It was obvious he was outrageously mad. He was struggling and managed to get Axel to lose his grip, only for a second before he quickly regained it and held Marluxia even harder.

Larxene couldn't help but giggle at the site of it. She looked up from the two and saw Demyx. "Hey Demyx" she called. She tapped on the seat next to her and waved him over. He pointed at himself idiotically, as if there was anyone else standing around. He walked over and sat down next to her, grinning like an idiot. Demyx was ready to say something when a voice called out "Attention, Members of Organization XIII the exams will officially begin in three minutes. Please find your seats and stay there till I say other wise."

At that moment Axel released Marluxia and leapt out of the infuriated man's reach. He made several attempts to get Axel with his scythe but he evaded them without problem. Marluxia was prepared to run after him when he felt a cold heavy hand on his shoulder. "Take. Your. Seat." The superior said finality in his words.

Marluxia went pale for a moment and then slowly slunk moodily into the seat next to Demyx while Axel sat next to Larxene, grinning savagely over at Marluxia as if to say 'I won'.

XxXx A Watery Grave xXxX

All the attention turned to the center of the room when Xemnas stood in the center of the arena. He took his loud speaker and announced the first match: "Xaldin and Demyx, come to the floor now."

Demyx trembled when he heard his name called. Xaldin? He'd be killed! Larxene put her hand on his shoulder and grinned " go get'em Demyx" she encouraged. It helped Demyx swallow his fear as he got up and marched down the stairs towards the Arena. Xaldin was already waiting when he got there.

Demyx stood on the opposite side, breathing heavily. Just looking at Xaldin made his blood run cold. Xaldin smirked cockily as his 6 deadly spears appeared around him, circling him menacingly, like and impenetrable shield of steel shafts.

Then Xemnas declared" You all know the rules right? Weapons only. Summoning Heartless or Nobodies is against the rules. Teleporting is against the rules as well. If you teleport during a match you forfeit. Now that that's all been clarified: Let the match begin!"

Before the words had a chance to register Demyx found several spears flying towards him. He had just enough time to move out of the way of two before the third one nicked his shoulder. He cried out then scampered away as quick as his feet could carry him. He dogged another spear and ducked to avoid getting his head taken off by another.

"Jeezus, at least let me get me weapon out," Demyx muttered, summoning his sitar while Xaldin retrieved the spears he'd already hurled at Demyx. Demyx gripped his sitar tensely and began to pluck the strings of his musical weapon. "DANCE WATER DANCE!" he screamed, summoning water clones. It would buy him some time, hopefully.

Xaldin grinned and slashed through the water clones like a knife through butter. "Come on Demyx, just forfeit. You'll never win."

"Damnit he's right" Demyx muttered to himself as he ran away from another rain of spears. He thought quickly of anyway he could handicap Xaldin. Obviously his water clones weren't cutting it. He looked around the stadium, nothing but flat level ground. That's when the idea struck him…

Xaldin was running at him, ready to impale him. 'This was too easy' he thought. The match was already over in his mind. So wrapped up in his victory he didn't notice the water Demyx had summoned. Too late Xaldin realize something was wrong and he slipped on the water covering the floor. This gave Demyx a chance to sprint away and plan his counter attack.

Demyx grinned like an idiot, watching Xaldin stammer to get up. " Dance water, dance!" he called up. A powerful spout of water rocketed up from the ground, sending Xaldin skyward.

"Not a good move" Xaldin snickered. A harsh wind came from nowhere, catching Xaldin in mid-air. The wind aloud him to hover above Demyx, making him an easier target. "Say your prayers number nine," He hissed, hurling the spears down at him. Demyx yelped and ducked, narrowly avoiding a few.

Demyx looked up at where Xaldin was hovering menacingly, preparing his next attack. His eyes focused on the large blocks that made up the ceiling. They were solid concrete, perfect.

Demyx grinned and chuckled, earning himself a confused glare from Xaldin. Demyx played a soft melody and then pointed up at the ceiling. "going down?". Xaldin looked up questioningly.

The concrete block directly above him was suddenly pushed down by a torrent of water. The block hit Xaldin, causing him to fall along with it. Moments before the block hit the ground he teleported away. The block hit the floor with a loud crash and crushed the tiles around it.

Demyx grinned victoriously; unable to believe he'd won. He'd actually did it. He'd beaten Xaldin.

"And the winner is Demyx" Xemnas declared boredly. "Winner take your seat. Next match is in five minutes."

XxX A Brief Respite XxX

Demyx marched triumphantly back to his seat, grinning like a mad man. "way to go kid" Axel said, giving him the thumbs up.

"Really showed that mean ol' Xaldin what's what" Marluxia said and slapped him on the back.

Demyx blushed and chuckled "yeah…I ummm guess I did…"

" You guess? You kicked ass man, high-five" Larxene said, smiling at him. Demyx gave her a high-five, feeling quite proud of himself. He was ready to believe he was king of the world until he heard the cool, emotionless voice wash over him.

"Don't get too cocky" Saïx purred, walking past their seats. He continued down to the arena.

Demyx shuddered, staring at the back of Saïx's head. "He's creepy," he muttered, Marluxia nodding in agreement.

"Pfft. He's just tryin to psyche you out. Don't worry bout him," Larxene said. She obviously didn't like him much.

"Would all nobodies please take your seats? The next mach is about to begin" Xemnas called out in a bored monotone. No one had actually bothered to get up aside from Saïx so he didn't know why he bothered. "The next match is…

XxX Berserker XxX

…Saïx verses Axel" He called out, uninterested.

Axel stood up grinning. Now was his time to shine. "Whish me luck" he said jumping over the seats in front of him, rather than use the walkway.

Xemnas sighed tiredly, fed up with Axel's antics already. Axel leapt over the last row of seats into the arena; Saïx had been waiting all along. " You both know the rules correct? Let the match begin" Xemnas declared and teleported out of the arena again.

Axel summoned his chakrams immediately and took his fighting pose. "Ready for it berserker boy?" he called.

Saïx grinned evilly, a low sinister laugh leaking from his throat. Axel frowned; it was never a good thing when Saïx was happy.

Saïx pointed up at the ceiling where the missing block was from Demyx's battle. The moon shone through the hole in the ceiling. Saïx stood in the center of the moonlight, gazing up at it as if it were the face of God. "Behold my power" he growled ominously before throwing his head back and howling at the moon like some sort of deranged wolf.

Axel waited cautiously; watching Saïx like a predatory cat, ready to pounce at any moment. Saïx jerked his head down suddenly, staring at Axel with wide amber eyes, filled with rage and madness. He launched himself at Axel who easily dogged the clumsy attempt.

Axel danced elegantly back and forth, easily evading Saïx animal like charges and swipes. This was too easy, he thought. Saïx launched himself at Axel again who easily dogged once more. Axel brought one of the chakrams down on Saïx's back, earning him a howl of pain.

"Too easy" Axel said grinning, looking at the pained Saïx. He laughed and began walking back towards the edge of the arena, figuring it was over. Axel heard a howl and spun around in just enough time to see Saïx knock him to the ground. "well you sure recovered fast dog-boy" Axel snarled at Saïx.

Saïx fastened his hands around Axel's neck, choking him. He dug his nails in deep, drawing blood. Axel coughed at struggled, trying desperately to throw Saïx off.

'Wait? What the hell am I doing?' Axel thought. He used his pyrokinesis to ignite Saïx's cloak. Saïx jumped off Axel and, rather than stop drop and roll, ran around screaming for someone to put him out. Axel grinned devilishly at the insane berserker running around on fire. His grin only broadened when he slipped on the puddle of water left over from Demyx's match.

Axel laughed as a soggy Saïx pulled himself up from the water, glaring at Axel. He summoned his trusty claymore and launched himself at Axel. The initial hit knocked one of the chakrams out of Axel's hand, leaving him with only one to try and deflect the blows from the claymore.

Axel managed to deflect Saïx's enraged blows for a while but he was quickly becoming fatigued. In the rhythmic steps of the battle to get slightly off beat would mean losing. Axel managed to keep in time, matching Saïx blow for blow for a while. Finally his fatigue caught up with him and Saïx knocked the remaining chakram out of his hand. He then swung the claymore at Axel, knocking him down. Axel struggled to get up before being hit upside the head with the claymore yet again.

Axel coughed weakly, spitting out a bit of blood. " That all ya got?" He asked, offering a lopsided grin. Saïx was amazed Axel still had enough energy to be an ass.

Saïx chuckled. " No" he said smoothly, slamming the claymore into the side of Axel's head, sending him flying into the wall. Axel lay limply on the ground, unmoving.

Saïx slithered over to Axel's unconscious form and raised his claymore up for a deathblow. Only then did it strike Saïx was perfectly willing to kill Axel.

"Oh my God, AXEL GET UP," Larxene screamed. She looked over at Demyx and Marluxia and said " Saïx is going to kill him!"

Demyx bit his lip and looked at Marluxia helplessly. "Larxene…there's…nothing we can do" Marluxia purred softly.

Larxene stared at them, shocked. She stood up and Marluxia grabbed her sleeve and shook his head.

Larxene looked at Marluxia, then at Saïx, poised to strike. "AXEL DON'T DIE YOU SHIT HEAD" she screamed angrily. How dare he go off and get himself killed! " YOU PUSSY! COME ON!"

Saïx looked over at Larxene's direction, confused. Then he grinned sadistically, completely prepared to destroy Axel. Axel's eyes fluttered open and he saw Saïx standing over him with his weapon. " Oh shit" he muttered and rolled out of the way, barely. Axel barely missed Saïx swinging his claymore at him furiously.

"Die!" Saïx hissed. He slammed his claymore into the ground, getting it stuck for a moment. That was all Axel needed. He jumped out of the way then launched himself upward into the air.

" I'm the best, got it memorized?"

He summoned two flaming chakrams and hurled them at Saïx. Saïx cried out and screamed in agony trying to pry the flaming weapons from his body he feel on his knees on the floor, crying out and writhing in pain before finally teleporting from the arena, leaving the two weapons to clatter to the floor.

Axel landed on his feet perfectly and wondered over to his weapons. He grabbed them then smiled up at the others, holding up a single finger as if to say…

'I'm number one, got it memorized'

XxX Burned Out XxX

Axel grinned wildly up at the others before his eyes drifted close and he collapsed on the floor.

"And Axel is the winner" Xemnas snarled, though no one could tell why he was angry (though few had suspicions).

Now that the match was officially over Larxene and Demy both leapt over their seats and hurried down to see what was wrong with Axel. Marluxia walked down the walkway after them. Apparently Luxord had been concerned for their spiky haired pyro friend too for he ran out onto the arena and over to the body.

The four gathered around Axel's limp frame, trying to determine what was wrong. Larxene shook him violently demanding him to wake up. Luxord grabbed her hand and said, " you're not helping."

"is anyone here a doctor?" Larxene asked. They glanced at each other nervously. " Okay WAS anyone ONCE a doctor then?"

"Ummm I have…limited medical knowledge…" Marluxia offered.

"Move aside peons" Xemnas said, looking at the body. " He'll be fine." He snapped his fingers and two dusks and a sorcerer appeared. " Take him to the recovery room" Xemnas snapped. The dusks dumped Axel onto the bed of blocks provided by the sorcerer and headed off.

Larxene and the others got up to follow but Xemnas shook his head and said " to your seats, the next match will begin shortly."

"But…" Larxene offered weakly. " but…but…"

"To. Your. Seats" Xemnas snarled.

Larxene winced and the nobodies shuffled back to their seats, Luxord taking Axel's place on the other side of Larxene.

"He'll be fine, he's Axel" Luxord comforted a worried Larxene. She nodded and sighed, waiting to watch the next match.

Xemnas stepped out into the arena and called out the next names:

"Larxene and Lexaeus to the arena now"

Looks like she wouldn't be watching it after all.

XxX Grounded XxX

Demyx and Marluxia glanced at each other worriedly.

"No Larxene you can't do it" Demyx said, eyes wide.

"He will kill you" Marluxia said, nodding in agreement.

Larxene rolled her eyes and started towards the arena. She looked back at them and gave them the thumbs up and said " Don't worry about it. You don't know just how good I am."

She entered the arena, staring at Lexaeus. He was **huge**. A wicked grin crossed his face and he spoke " So…you're Larxene eh? Seems to be the first time we've met."

"Yeah you were busy the night I got here…and every day after."

He chuckled and shrugged. " You've met the others, I'm sure you realize with all these jack offs someone has to be doing actual work."

Larxene nodded " yeah, they are a buncha jack offs. But at least they know how to have fun."

"are you two quite finished talking?" Xemnas asked, glaring at both of them.

"yes sir" Lexaeus said and nodded.

"Good, you know the rules. Read, set…Go!" He declared and vanished.

Battle underway the combatants summoned their weapons and stared each other down. Nether moved for a long time, eyes locked, waiting for the other to move.

It would be easy to accuse Lexaeus of being a big dumb behemoth from his look, but beneath the brawn was also amazing intelligence. He examined Larxene, making mental notes. She was small, tiny in frame, meaning she would be able to move quicker than him. She used kunai as a weapon, meaning her attacks would most likely come from a long range.

While he was planning it all out in his head Larxene made her move. Quicker than the eye could perceive she almost seemed to vanish as she darted away. It took Lexaeus a moment to realize she had gone. "Hey, up here big boy" he herd a voice call. Larxene had leapt into the air and hurled eight deadly blades down at him.

Lexaeus brought up his tomahawk to deflect them easily. "Not bad, try this" he muttered and slammed his massive weapon down into the ground. The floor shook and a gaping fissure opened up in the floor beneath her. Larxene fell down into the pit, grabbing the side of it, digging one of her kunai into the wall for support.

Lexaeus walked over as she struggled to pull herself up. He grinned and slammed the weapon down on her fingers. She screeched and let go, tumbling back into the crack. Dirt quickly filled in the gap, burring her alive.

Lexaeus sighed, " what a waste, another perfectly good candidate, too weak to make it. Oh well, Organization XI it is." Unlike the others though he did not immediately turn his back on the fallen opponent. He watched carefully, making sure that she didn't somehow crawl back up out of the ground.

A minute ticked by, then another. He smiled at the satisfactory outcome. He watched for a moment more and stuck his weapon in the ground where she'd fallen. "Rest in peace " he said. He felt almost sorry for her quick demise.

Then he noticed small sparks crackling around the base of where his weapon was stuck in the ground. Before he knew what was happening he found a charge of pure electricity coursing through him as he tried to pry his weapon from the ground. He finally jerked the massive weapon from the ground, Larxene holding onto it for dear life.

She coughed violently, trying to suck air into her lungs. She staggered to her feet, brushing off dirt. She grinned at Lexaeus and said "not bad, but if that's all you got I'm going to win this."

Lexaeus laughed, amazed at her persistence. " Don't worry, that's far from it." He quickly swung the weapon at her, barely giving her a chance to dodge it. She jumped up and landed on the blade, then kicked Lexaeus square in the jaw. Stunned, he dropped the weapon, causing her to tumble after it.

"Owww…" she grumbled, rubbing the back of her head. She then took advantage of the moment and kicked the weapon away from his reach. Once he realized what was happening he snarled and lashed out at Larxene, attempting to punch her out.

Larxene dodged him flawlessly. He might be strong, but he was slow. After weaving through a barrage of attempts to strike her she summoned a lone kunai and slashed it across his face. He cried out, gripping his face in pain, leaving him wide open. She proceeded to punch him in the gut, and then followed it up by kicking him in the ribs.

He collapsed on his knees, one hand pressed against the bloody streak across his face, another wrapped around his gut.

"Your good" Larxene said, smiling wickedly. He looked up at her, glaring venomously at her. She kicked him in the crotch and laughed " but I'm better."

Lexaeus cried out, grabbing his pained crotch. Larxene took advantage of this and came up behind him, placing a kunai across his throat. " You wanna keep going with this? Cause I know one hundred and one ways to pain you without killing you… for each part of the body." Lexaeus gulped and teleported from the arena, head down in disgrace.

Larxene grinned up at here friends then looked over to where Xemnas was waiting on the sidelines. "Larxene wins" He called out boredly. He had actually been quite interested in the fight though. He had seen what Larxene was capable of, which was why he had recruited her in the first place. At first she'd given him a nice kick to the ribs that had left more than a few of them cracked. Later she had decided to come with him though, obviously.

Larxene took a deep breath, satisfied with her victory and grinned crazily up at her friends, then over at the lone admirer, leaning against the door.

XxX Observations XxX

(Note: Axel's perspective, for your pleasure)

I woke up in the recovering wing I don't know how long after I had passed out. I sat up but then had to lay back down I was so dizzy. I groaned then herd " oh shut up, like you've got it that bad."

I looked over to the bed next to me to see a pissed of Saïx, wrapped in bandages. He was glaring at me viciously, so of course I smiled at him and pretended it didn't bother me, just to piss him off even more.

Sitting on the bed next to Saïx was a frowning Xaldin, randomly placed Band-Aids all over him. " looks like the dusks just wanted you to look pretty" I offered sarcastically. He gave me a death glare and I shut up.

I looked to my other side to see the dusks that ran the recovery wing all sitting in front of a large screen, showing the exams. I saw Lexaeus walking down to the arena and…Larxene?

No it couldn't be. After what happened to that last girl surely they wouldn't make them fight.

I watched the match intently, all my nerves on edge. They seemed to stare each other down forever and it made me terribly edgy.

"Jesus Axel don't piss your pants" I herd Saïx snarl behind me. "Seriously, we all know what's going to happen so don't look so wound up over it. Its pathetic." I glanced back at him, and evil smirk on his face. " Lexaeus is unbeatable Axel… so you might wanna say good bye to your little girlfriend." He Xaldin chuckled until a dust turned around and pressed its hand (or what ever you wanna call what they have) to its face, as if to tell us to 'shhh'.

I bit my lip, feeling a bit sick. Lexaeus was trouble, no doubt about it. Given the chance he'd snap her neck clear off her body. While pondering over my thoughts I noticed movement on the screen, the first move…

It was Larxene. She was much faster than I could see. It was like she was there one moment and gone the next. I grinned a bit to myself; it would be an easy match if Lexaeus couldn't follow her.

My grin faltered slightly as Lexaeus deflected her attack so easily. Then it turned to shock and horror as I watched her fall into a pit and be buried alive. " LARXENE!" I screamed, though I knew there was no way she could hear me.

"Larxene! Oh no Larxene, what will I jerk of to with out you around?" Saïx said in a mocking tone. He and Xaldin giggled and I stood up.

"Fuck you guys" I snarled, staggering a bit. That blow to my head from the claymore had more than just addled me. I figured I probably had a billion different kinds of brain damage now. " Larxene is one of our comrades you know. If every fucking member that comes here gets killed off by Lexaeus then we'll never be strong enough to open Kingdom Hearts." Well that had shut them up. They both stared at me, I guess shocked by my outburst. One of the dusks turned around and gave me it's pathetic 'shhh' sign, and I promptly replied by kicking it in the face. I stormed out the door, running down the hall.

I don't think I ever ran faster in all my life. I tripped several times on my way down the stairs but I made it to the doors to the stadium and flung them open in time to see Lexaeus pulling the tomahawk out of the ground, Larxene holding onto it for dear life.

I leaned against the door and watched in silence as she proceeded to beat the crap out of him. She was fast AND strong. Now I realized why Xemnas was limping when he first drug her here to the castle. She seemed to be having lots of fun at Lexaeus's expense. She seemed to derive some sort of twisted pleasure from his pain. I swear I herd her laughing as she kicked him right in the jewels.

Finally Lexaeus departed the arena in shame and I smirked. Larxene was some woman. I can't believe I had ever doubted her. She grinned, obviously proud of her victory. All odds had been against her, and she made it seem like a cakewalk.

She exited the arena and started walking towards the aisles when she continued walking towards the doors, to me.

She grinned at me and said " Still worried about me?"

I cocked and eyebrow at her and smirked " a little" I teased, earning a punch in the elbow from her. " owww! Jeez Lar, I just got out of the recovery wing."

" Must have been a terribly injury. You were gone about five minutes" she sneered back at me.

She turned and walked away, leaving me there to just stand and admire her. She was an interesting creature, no doubt about it. She took her seat and I herd the others all praising her. She seemed really happy at their approval, but not as happy as mine.

It made me wonder about Larxene. What was that wily woman up to?

XxX

"That was amazing" Marluxia said. " I figured you were a goner when he shoved you under ground."

"Pfft, are you forgetting who I am? I'm Larxene; I'm the Savage Nymph. No one can beat me." She grinned; she had actually had her doubts too. But no one had to know that.

END PART 1

(Note from the Author: I am so sorry it took so long to only get out this very small part of the story. I have been so busy lately. There's so much work I gotta do its not even funny. Not to mention inspiration positively deserted me for some time. Please forgive me and enjoy this chapter…well more like half a chapter. The second part won't be out until the New Year but it will be out before February…hopefully.)


	8. MiniChapter: Cooking with Xigbar

**Mini-Chapter:**

_Cooking with Xigbar_

(Authors note: a random idea that hit me earlier today. This is just a random misadventure turned into little mini-chapter about our dearest Freeshooter. It has nothing to do with the main plot, but oh well. It's fun nonetheless.)

Larxene sat in one of the chairs in the kitchen, eating handful after handful of Cheese-its. She knew they were about as nutritious as cardboard, but they were her favorite food nonetheless.

"ewww, Larxene. Honestly I thought you had better taste than that" Xigbar snapped, jerking the box out of her hand. If it had been anyone else she would have killed them. Instead she looked up at him sadly, wondering why he would do such a thing. " did Marluxia get these for you?" She nodded, extending her hand, as if to ask for them back. He snorted and tossed them in the garbage, earning a horrified glare from Larxene.

"That junk ain't good for you, ya know" Xigbar said, pacing through the kitchen, as if looking for something.

"but-but there good" she whined, eyes wide.

He cocked an eyebrow at her "are you serious?"

" I practically lived off Cheeze-It's and pretzel sticks. You don't like'em?" she said with a shrug.

This time Xigbar was the one left eyes wide…well …eye wide. "As if! I can't believe this. You've never had normal food?"

"Cheeze-Its are normal" she said, crossing her arms defiantly.

He threw his arms up in disgust " that's it! I'm cooking dinner tonight."

"oooh Xigbar's cooking?" Demyx asked, walking through the door, idiotic grin on his face. "awesome! Will you make that awesome sea food dish you did last time?"

"Sure kid" Xigbar said and ruffled Demyx's hair, causing him to frown for a second before his goofy grin reclaimed his face.

"That's good. Larxene you haven't lived till you tasted Xigbar's cooking. He's a god in the kitchen," Demyx said.

"and don't you forget it" Xigbar said, already pulling pots and pans out of cupboards. " Demyx, you go get the fish outta the freezer okay?" Demyx nodded and then vanished without another word. " Larxene you stay here and watch. You need to see what REAL food is. Maybe you can be my assistant."

Larxene grinned, leaning against the wall, watching Xigbar. " Sounds great, I love food." Larxene found it kind of funny, chef Xigbar. He didn't exactly strike her as Iron Chef. She watched as he set up everything, like he'd done it a million times before.

"Larxene, you like noodles?" he asked as he started setting out stuff on the counter.

Her mouth watered at the mention of noodles. " They are the god of all foods" she whimpered.

Xigbar laughed, setting a thing of pasta out " That's good." He seemed to know exactly where everything was, as if he had sorted it himself. It occurred to her maybe he had. Maybe he was the full time chef. He quickly dismissed that theory though. " I don't cook a lot… reminds me about my old self…" he said quietly. " But when I do I make sure to do a hell of a good job. I make sure its enough to keep everyone contented for a while. Everyone likes different stuff though so it's a real pain in the ass to cook for eleven."

Larxene cocked an eyebrow " uhhh don't you mean twelve?"

"Nope. Zexion doesn't eat. He claims food is for the weaklings. He lives solely on coffee." Larxene gave him another puzzled look and he further explained " we're nobodies. We don't really need food. We need some sustenance to keep our bodies functioning, but it could be cardboard, or rocks, or even just water."

Larxene nodded, understanding. She hadn't thought a lot about being a no body. To her it felt exactly the same as being whole….just a little different. " So everybody eats something different? That's gotta be a pain in the ass to do all that cooking."

"Another reason why I don't do it a lot. It's long, tiring, thankless work, which is why I normally just have the dusks do it." He grinned though and said " its something enjoyable that I can do to easy my nerves. Demyx has his sitar, Vexen his experiments, and I have my cooking."

Larxene nodded. She'd learned a lot about the elusive number two in just a few moments. She didn't normally see him about like the others. She had assumed maybe he had some vastly important job, or was always away on missions. Or maybe he was socially retarded like Axel was.

The door to the kitchen opened and Demyx came in with a box; a large sticker saying '**Keep Frozen**' was placed on it. Demyx dropped the box on the counter and smiled. "So what all you gonna make Xiggy?" he asked.

Xigbar shrugged" same as always. Salad for Marluxia and Vexen, noodles for Axel, steak for Saïx and Lexaeus, your fish, some fruit maybe some bread too. Me, I'll just make myself some soup.

And Zexion's coffee."

Larxene stared at him " your gonna make all that?"

"Sounds like a lot, but keep in mind its for eleven people" Xigbar said, opening the box of frozen meats.

Demyx watched up until Xigbar began chopping the fish's heads off. He winced and turned away. " That's my queue to leave. See you guys at dinner" he said, waving before stepping through the door.

XxX

Larxene was scrambling back and forth across the kitchen; Getting Xigbar whatever he needed and helping him get rid of scraps and clean things. After only a short amount of time she'd already worked up a sweat. She slipped out of her heavy coat and tossed it on a chair. She always wore a simple black tank top and pants under her coat.

Xigbar glanced over at her and laughed. "Tired? Please, we just started and you're doing the easy stuff."

"Yeah but you've been doing it a while. This is my first time working in a kitchen" she retorted, crossing her arms.

"Don't start quittin on me. I need all the help I can get. The dusks are basically useless ya know."

"I know, I know. I'm helping" she said, handing him another pot.

There was a soft tap on the door and a sliver of bright red peeked in the door. " Alrighty, Xigbar's cookin tonight" Axel said, throwing the door open. He walked over to a boiling pot full of pasta and grinned. " aww Xiggy ya shouldn't have!"

"Kay, I won't next time then" he said, pushing Axel away. Axel frowned and crossed his arms. Xigbar glared at him " do you need something? I'm creating art here."

Axel cocked an eyebrow. "art?"

"yeah, art. Gotta problem with it?" Larxene snarled, peeling potatoes over by the sink.

Axle stared at her for a moment before he started giggling. " Larxene in the kitchen. That's something I never thought I'd see" he teased.

"If you're not gonna help Axel, scram" Xigbar said, gutting a fish. Axel watched the fish's disemboweling and he gagged.

" uhhh how can Demyx eat that. I think I'mma hurl just looking at it."

"If you insist on loitering about until the noodles are done why don't you make yourself useful and help Larxene. She was just complaining earlier," Xigbar instructed, de-heading another fish. Axel stared at the head, the eye seemingly staring back at him. he gagged again and walked over to the sink.

" I wasn't complaining. I was just commenting that it was hard work. If anything it was a compliment" she said, too proud to accept Axel's help, though she needed it. Axel didn't offer to though. He just watched her for a while before she glared over at him and snapped, " Do you mind? I'm trying to feed you people."

Axel shrugged, sitting down in the chair Larxene had tossed her coat on. He knew she wouldn't ask him to help, so he took advantage of that.

A few moments passed, Larxene finding it extremely hard to work while being watched. " Xigbar said help or leave. Not sit and watch," she snarled at Axel, destroying a potato in the process.

He figured that was about as much of a help request as he'd get. He chuckled and got up, walking over next to her. He got a knife and set to work peeling potatoes. Larxene felt oddly contented just to have him they're working. Probably because he wasn't staring at her any more.

XxX

After nearly two hours of preparing food and such Larxene and Axel were exhausted. Xigbar seemed fine, chipper as ever. He was covering things up, adding spices and his own little finishing touches to everything.

" Don't you two eat anything. I'll be right back" Xigbar said, taking off with a hot bowl of soup in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.

Axel immediately walked over to look at all the food laid out on the counter, grinning. " Axel don't. Last thing we want is to piss Xigbar off" Larxene snapped, leaning back in her chair.

"I'm just taking one little piece of fruit. I think I earned it," he said, grabbing the juicy looking star shaped fruit on top. He took a bite out of it and grinned. " mmmm this is good… wanna bite?"

Larxene crossed her arms, glaring at him. It did look good though. She sighed " fine. Just a little piece." He snapped the fruit in half, handing her the half he hadn't touched. It was the best tasting thing Larxene had ever eaten. She hurried through it though incase Xigbar came back. She licked the juice from her lips and sighed, sated.

"I wonder if there's another?" he said, picking through the assorted fruits. He didn't find a second one though. He sat down in another chair and closed his eyes, breathing in the sweet small of the food. It was about to drive him mad.

A few moments later Xigbar returned. He looked over the food, as if he didn't trust them. He didn't notice the missing fruit. Or if he did he didn't say anything. He took a deep breath then said " thanks guys. You were a big help. Dinners not for another few hours but…" he handed Axel the pasta bowl and opened up the back room door. " I figured I'd let you guys go on and eat since you did help out and all. Just keep it in the back room, okay."

They nodded, Axel carrying the bowl jealously, Larxene grabbing forks and plates. They went into the back room, essential just a small back room with a little table set up and dim, old light bulbs that didn't work. They usually had boxes and such stored back there, but it was empty today.

Axel set the bowl down and snatched a plate from Larxene. He started to dump the noodles onto his plate when she trust a fork at him and growled " be civilized."

He ducked his head, holding his hands up in mock terror. "Yes oh, Larxene the food goddess."

"You know I am," she said with that wicked smile, throwing the fork at him. She then proceeded to spoon the noodles onto her plate, mixing them with the marinara.

Axel grabbed his fork and did the same. Typically he'd just eat from the bowl like a dog. But no, Larxene wanted to be 'civilized' pfft.

XxX

Xigbar grinned, leaning against the counter, guarding the meal from the others, who would smell the food and soon come looking for an early snack. "Are we bad people?" Xigbar asked his companion, who was contently sipping coffee.

"No…. because we're not people. We're nobodies" Zexion said flatly. "How ever, was it cruel to set Larxene and Axel up? Maybe a little bit." He smirked.

Xigbar nodded thoughtfully and shrugged. "It's obvious that they like one another… they both just have big egos. Reminds me of someone I know."

"Who" Zexion said, frowning at Xigbar. " You're not talking about me."

Xigbar chuckled, waving his hand dismissively " Of course not." He smiled again then stepped away from the counter, crossing his arms. " What do you thinks gonna happen?"

"Only time'll tell…" Zexion said, staring into his coffee. "We can just hope they get along. And if it works out that they'll see things our way."

XxX

"Gimme!" Larxene whined, gritting her teeth.

"No fair, I saw it first" Axel snapped.

They were fighting over the last meatball. Each of them had their fork stuck in it, trying to get it away from the other.

" Meat isn't good for you, ya know" Axel tried to reason.

" Then why would you want it?"

"I don't care about my health."

" We'll you should. In fact you go on a good foods diet and I'll just continue wrecking mine."

"Nah, I don't think so. Besides if I ate any less I'd die" Axel said, poking his ribs.

"Your fault not mine" Larxene said, finally wrestling the meatball away from him. She grinned, holding up her fork victoriously.

Axel frowned, holding his hands up in surrender. " Fine, you win. All hail the princess of must-eat-more."

Larxene glared at the defeated Axel and sighed, holding out her fork. " FINE" she snapped. " Just take it. It's loaded with fat anyway."

Axel wasn't the ' awww no it's okay. You won fair and square types'. He grabbed her fork with a smile and shoved the wad of processed cow in his mouth.

Larxene snorted and got up, crossing her arms. " Jeeze you look like a thirteen year old that just got laid" she growled.

Axel just grinned his lazy lop-sided grin and chuckled. " Thanks" he said, getting up.

"Pfft, I didn't want it anyway" Larxene said and shrugged as if she didn't care. They both knew better though.

Axel grinned again and turned for the door. " I know," he said eloquently. He departed, leaving her to stand alone in the room, pondering her thoughts. Larxene sighed, picking up the dirty plates.

"Asshole makes me do the dishes" she snarled out loud. On the inside though she was giddy as a kitten in a sack full of catnip. The way he had stared at her for a moment, the sly seductive smile on his face. ' I know' he had said, though there were more intentions behind that than just about the meatball.

"Asshole" she repeated again, though smiling. They understood each other, even if it went unspoken…

XxX END MINI CHAPTER XxX

(Author's Note: well hope you enjoyed this random mini-chapter. It's really insignificant on a larger scale. You get another slight peak at what Xigbar and Zexion are up to though. Speaking of Xigbar I bet you didn't know he was a chef huh? Neither did I. The idea came from another fan fic I wrote that I never got around to publishing where Xigbar was a waiter. Marluxia didn't make it into this chapter… sorry. Maybe I'll do another mini-chapter of Larxene and Marluxia hanging out. Any way I'll be out with the end of the exams soon enough. Then it'll be getting more interesting. Till my next chapter, so long. )


End file.
